Effects of acute and chronic administration of fenproporex on DNA damage parameters in young and adult rats Cinara L. Gonc ¸alves • Gislaine T. Rezin • Gabriela K. Ferreira • Isabela C. Jeremias • Mariane R. Cardoso • Samira S. Valvassori • Bruna J. P. Munhoz • Gabriela D. Borges • Bruno N. Bristot • Daniela D. Leffa • Vanessa M. Andrade • Joa ˜o Quevedo • Emilio L. Streck Received: 30 January 2013 / Accepted: 17 April 2013 / Published online: 1 May 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial disease, whose prevalence is increasing in many countries. Phar- maceutical strategies for the treatment of obesity include drugs that regulate food intake, thermogenesis, fat absorption, and fat metabolism. Fenproporex is the second most commonly consumed amphetamine-based anorectic worldwide; this drug is rapidly converted in vivo into amphetamine, which is associated with neurotoxicity. In this context, the present study evaluated DNA damage parameters in the peripheral blood of young and adult rats submitted to an acute administration and chronic admin- istration of fenproporex. In the acute administration, both young and adult rats received a single injection of fen- proporex (6.25, 12.5 or 25 mg/kg i.p.) or vehicle. In the chronic administration, both young and adult rats received one daily injection of fenproporex (6.25, 12.5, or 25 mg/kg i.p.) or Tween for 14 days. 2 h after the last injection, the rats were killed by decapitation and their peripheral blood removed for evaluation of DNA damage parameters by alkaline comet assay. Our study showed that acute administration of fenproporex in young and adult rats presented higher levels of damage index and frequency in the DNA. However, chronic administration of fenproporex in young and adult rats did not alter the levels of DNA damage in both parameters of comet assay. The present findings showed that acute administration of fenproporex promoted damage in DNA, in both young and adult rats. Our results are consistent with other reports which showed that other amphetamine-derived drugs also caused DNA damage. We suggest that the activation of an efficient DNA C. L. Gonc ¸alves Á G. K. Ferreira Á I. C. Jeremias Á M. R. Cardoso Á E. L. Streck (&) Laborato ´rio de Bioenerge ´tica, Programa de Po ´s-graduac ¸a ˜o em Cie ˆncias da Sau ´de, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Avenida Universita ´ria, 1105, Criciu ´ma, SC 88806-000, Brazil e-mail: emiliostreck@gmail.com C. L. Gonc ¸alves Á G. K. Ferreira Á I. C. Jeremias Á M. R. Cardoso Á S. S. Valvassori Á J. Quevedo Á E. L. Streck National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), Criciu ´ma, Brazil C. L. Gonc ¸alves Á G. K. Ferreira Á I. C. Jeremias Á M. R. Cardoso Á S. S. Valvassori Á J. Quevedo Á E. L. Streck Center of Excellence in Applied Neurosciences of Santa Catarina (NENASC), Criciu ´ma, Brazil G. T. Rezin Laborato ´rio de Fisiopatologia Clı ´nica e Experimental, Programa de Po ´s-graduac ¸a ˜o em Cie ˆncias da Sau ´de, Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Avenida Jose ´ Aca ´cio Moreira, 787, Tubara ˜o, SC 88704-900, Brazil S. S. Valvassori Á J. Quevedo Laborato ´rio de Neurocie ˆncias, Programa de Po ´s-graduac ¸a ˜o em Cie ˆncias da Sau ´de, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Avenida Universita ´ria, 1105, Criciu ´ma, SC 88806-000, Brazil B. J. P. Munhoz Á G. D. Borges Á B. N. Bristot Á D. D. Leffa Á V. M. Andrade Laborato ´rio de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Programa de Po ´s- graduac ¸a ˜o em Cie ˆncias da Sau ´de, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Avenida Universita ´ria, 1105, Criciu ´ma, SC 88806- 000, Brazil 123 Mol Cell Biochem (2013) 380:171–176 DOI 10.1007/s11010-013-1670-2